Language Policy on Corsica: the State, the activists and the islanders

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The Mediterranean island of Corsica has been part of France since twenty years before the Revolution, although its integration into the nation State has been troubled, not least linguistically. This research project will take as its starting point the laissez-faire attitude of the Ancien Regime and the seismic shift in the light of the Revolution, outlining the key language policies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The research project will result in the publication of a monograph on language policy on Corsica in which there will be a specific examination of the role of education within language policy. The response to State language planning, dating back to a rise in ethno-nationalism on the island from the 1960s onwards, will be traced and the symbiosis between the State and the activists will be investigated. Finally, using language attitude methodologies developed by sociolinguists over the second half of the twentieth century, the reactions of a cross-section of islanders will be charted, focusing in particular on this turn of the century into the twenty-first century. Taking a chronological approach, the research will draw on the wealth of material on French language policy and original sociolinguistics research undertaken by the author on the island in 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2005, thereby permitting a study of changing language attitudes. This research will be informed by recent work on language planning, both theoretical and relating to the specific case studies that are being published, as well as by trends in sociolinguistics over the past decades which have included language planning in investigations of languages in contact, language obsolescence and language death. The volume offers a contribution to the field in focusing on an overlooked example at the centre of Europe within a State renowned for its directive and interventionist language policy. Given this lack of investigation into the treatment of Corsican, this book will bring this case study to the attention of scholars active in other language disciplines. Once published, the monograph, will serve as a case study for researchers, university teachers and students working within fields related to sociolinguistics. The book will be divided into the following chapters: Chapter 1 - this chapter will contrast the language policy of the Ancien Regime with post-Revolution language policies, highlighting the specific Corsican perspective. An historical overview of the nineteenth century French language policy will be provided. Chapter 2- the next stage in the argument will focus on the twentieth century, noting the challenge to the State's supremacy in language policy by language activists. Chapter 3- the following section will concentrate on the rise of the language activists noting how the language activists maneuvered themselves into a position to influence language policy on the island. Chapter 4- this chapter will consider the end of the twentieth century and the fundamental administrative changes taking place on Corsica, given the founding of the Regional Assembly. Chapter 5- the final chapter will investigate in particular the language attitudes of contemporary islanders as articulated through the four sociolinguistic surveys. The surveys seek to gauge the islanders' understanding of linguistic questions and to probe their attitudes to the trends in language policy. Post face and conclusion- this will draw together the three strands of language policy to provide an assessment of the position and status of Corsican. The book will include a bibliography established ex nihilo, which will be a useful research tool in its own right for those working on language policy within a French framework, and for sociolinguists, language planners and interested scholars.